Introducing the Effect of Bicyclist Stabilization Control in Microscopic Traffic Simulation

A bicycle dynamics model is developed that introduces characteristics of the bicycle dynamics in microscopic traffic simulation. The model alters the lateral position of simulated bicycles in space due to the stabilization efforts of the simulated bicyclist. The development of the proposed model is based on conclusions and simplifications derived from the study of single-track vehicle dynamic models. The proposed model is subsequently integrated with the microscopic traffic simulation software SUMO [1]. Results indicate that the operational width of a bicyclist is a decreasing function of the operational speed as a result of the bicyclist stabilization process. The proposed model can be used to improve the accuracy of simulation studies of the overtaking behavior of bicyclists and while studies focusing on the behavior of bicycles in platoons are expected to produce more accurate results.